Headmaster's voice: pressure is on to gain six A* GCSEs

Education expert Tommy Cookson answers your questions.

Past tense: Past tense: Dominic Cooper (l), James Corden (seated, second from right) and classmates in a scene from the film of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys
Photo: Fox search/Everett/Rex Features

By Tommy Cookson

5:30PM BST 24 Aug 2012

Q My daughter is terribly worried about her GCSE results. She attends a very good independent school and has been told – whether by her teachers or her friends is not entirely clear — that no serious university will look at her unless she has half a dozen A*s. Is this the case? Or are A grades not all that different?

TH, London

A The difference between an A* grade and an A grade is the same as between an A and a B grade, though the percentages vary from board to board and from subject to subject. For instance, in physics an A* is awarded to candidates scoring more than 80 per cent and an A to candidates scoring 70 per cent or above. In languages the percentages tend to be higher.

Experience shows that the top candidates do achieve a large number of A*s in selective schools with highly qualified teachers, well-equipped classrooms and small classes. Generally, six A*s isn’t too wide of the mark, though universities aren’t too rigid and pay attention to all the evidence.

Say, for instance, that your daughter wished to do a science degree and has got A*s in three separate sciences and maths at GCSE. If, by the time she applies to university, she has an A* in A-level maths and is predicted a high grade in further maths and her science subjects, she is hardly likely to disqualify herself on the basis of having achieved only four A*s in her GCSEs. The school’s report on her Ucas form will also tell the university how good she is.

I suspect the phrase “serious university” is code for Oxbridge plus a couple of others. These and other top universities do their best to encourage talented pupils who have not had the advantage of an excellent independent education. Their offers to such candidates will take this into account. This is entirely fair, although it puts pupils at top independent schools, like your daughter, under intense pressure to perform.

QNext term my son will have to finalise his GCSE choices. During the holidays one or two of his classmates have been boasting on Facebook about how many they are going to take – adding an extra language because they speak it at home and stacking up subjects like art with out-of-school tuition. Surely good grades matter more at this stage than sheer weight of numbers? Or have times changed?

AW, Leeds

A I agree, though the examples you give seem reasonable: anyone who speaks a foreign language at home would be wise (especially in this country where so few people speak a foreign language) to have it formally recognised – not to mention structured and underwritten by proper academic study. Likewise, anyone interested in and good at art could be forgiven for wanting to pursue it independently if there were no time for it at school.

But to do more than eight GCSE subjects solely in order to decorate your CV is, as you suggest, pointless. Education isn’t just about exams. It’s about reading widely; the pursuit of hobbies; the enjoyment of sport, music and drama; the development of friendships; even, sometimes, just about being still and observing. There is more to life than the measurable.

QMy son has really fluffed two of his strongest GCSEs. He has obtained As almost across the board but only Bs in English and history; and he has set his heart on reading history at university. What is the general view on retakes at GCSE? Do universities notice that an exam has been taken twice and mark down accordingly? Or do they appreciate the extra effort involved?

IB, via email

A For him to retake GCSE history seems a waste of time. Universities do indeed notice that there have been retakes, and are less impressed with grades acquired in them; schools don’t encourage them, except when, as in maths and English, passes are mandatory. In any case, pupils entering the lower sixth are usually ready to make athe step-change to A-level: retakes can be tedious as well as difficult to timetable.

If your son’s teachers are as surprised by his results as he is, the school should ask for a remark. This will be carried out by another examiner. The deadline for such a request is September 20. There is a cost if there is no change to the grade and the school might ask you to pay it. But, given your son’s keen interest in history, it seems worth the risk.

The school can also recall the scripts. This will allow his teachers to see what went wrong and advise him how to improve. However good and experienced the examiners, assessments in English and history involve a certain subjectivity, so be prepared for possible disagreement between teachers and the Board.

If there is no change to the GCSE grade, all is not lost. The further he goes in the subject, the more he will be able to show his curiosity and his willingness to read widely and to think for himself. With maturity he will acquire greater skill in dealing with complex arguments and analytical tasks than he could demonstrate at 16. One of the merits of AS-level is that he will have a chance to show what he can do before he applies to university.